It’s no secret that one of Netflix’s biggest selling points is the binge format it popularized wherein audiences get to watch full seasons of their favorite show in one weekend instead of waiting for it spread over several weeks. The format has allowed filmmakers behind the shows to get creative with their pacing and storytelling.
For the Marvel-Netflix shows, this meant packaging their content in a prestige serialized format where seasons functioned as lengthy movies where cliffhangers bookended episodes. It didn’t always work out for them as criticism over pacing and episode count was constantly lobbied whenever a season would premiere. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Kevin Feige addressed Marvel Studios’ desire to do the opposite of what Marvel-Netflix did saying:
Yes. I mean, cliffhangers are great, and I like watching a show where you should go to bed, but you see the cliffhanger and you just have to watch the next episode. You certainly want to keep people engaged. But I’m a big Star Trek fan, and I still find it soothing to watch an episode of Next Gen with a beginning and an end. So, I think we’re going to keep experimenting with that going forward.
When the conversation inevitably shifts toward Daredevil: Born Again, Feige shares his excitement in experimenting with the aforementioned episodic standalone format of storytelling.
It’s Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio, and they’re amazing actors and storytellers in their own right. That’s sort of what I was talking about with the fun of episodic television: That’s really where we’re experimenting with that, with Daredevil in particular.
Given the whopping 18-episode length of Born Again, it makes complete sense for Marvel Studios to pace out the season in a reasonable manner. If Andor was any indication of how future Disney+ shows can handle longer seasons (by clustering storylines into 2-3 episodes), Born Again should be in a good spot.
Source: EW
